Man took cannabis to ease skin condition, court is told (From Gazette Series)

Man took cannabis to ease skin condition, court is told

A CIVIL engineer who said he smoked large quantities of cannabis because he suffered with the skin condition psoriasis has walked free from court.

Adrian Henderson, 35, of Oak Drive, Dursley smoked around 10 joints a day to help him cope with the condition, Gloucester Crown Court was told on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to being in possession of 971g of herbal cannabis with intent to supply it on April 26 this year.

He denied a second identical charge of possession with intent on the same day, but pleaded guilty to a charge of simple possession of 14.6g cannabis resin.

The pleas were considered acceptable to the Crown.

Henderson admitted the offence on the basis that he only supplied the drug to a close set of friends and that much of the cannabis found at his flat was not smokable.

George Threlfall, prosecuting, said police raided Henderson's flat in Dursley on April 26 last year and found drugs and drugs paraphernalia.

He said the 971g of cannabis found in the flat was enough to make between 3,000 and 6,000 rolled cigarettes but accepted that much of the cannabis was unusable.

A total of 14.6g of cannabis resin was also found.

Mr Threlfall said that pipes to smoke cannabis, a drug customer list and eight mobile phones were also found at the property.

"These are all items that are associated with the commercial sale of drugs," Mr Threlfall said.

He added that Henderson was a man of good character.

Kannan Siva, defending, said that his client was the sole guardian of two young teenage boys and was looking after his ill mother.

He said Henderson had an impressive CV and had once been responsible for a fleet of tankers belonging to BOC Gases.

"The bulk of the cannabis was in the loft because it was of an unusable poor quality that was probably unsmokable," Mr Siva told the court.

"His use of the drug was very high because he suffered with psoriasis and was suffering from stress - working 16 hours a day as a civil engineer.

"Perhaps the best mitigation is that he is a wonderful father.

"He has behaved in a foolish and appalling way but in the circumstances I would submit that a custodial sentence can be avoided."

Recorder Adrian Palmer QC told Henderson: "You are a man of previous good character and it's a sadness to see you in front of the court but the fact is that you have pleaded guilty to a very serious offence.

"The offences breach the custody threshold but on balance your personal circumstances are such that I am able to suspend your sentence."

Recorder Palmer sentenced Henderson to nine months in prison suspended for two years. He ordered him to pay £140 costs.